The recipe that won the 2019 World Brewers Cup and put the Origami on the global map — five precise pulses, low temperature, flat Kalita Wave paper. An exceptionally bright and delicate cup.
In October 2019, Du Jianing (杜嘉宁) from China won the World Brewers Cup, and her presentation left the audience speechless. She chose a brewer that was almost unknown in the West at the time: the Origami Dripper — a Japanese ceramic device with origami-style fluting, from 2019.
What is the Origami:
Made by Trinity Ceramics in Japan (Motoko Chiaki's studio). The design: 20 vertical folds creating a decorative structure. But it's not just beauty — the folds create air channels between the filter paper and the walls, allowing even and fast drawdown without back-pressure.
Bonus: the Origami fits both V60 (cone) and Kalita Wave (flat) papers. Du Jianing chose Kalita Wave — and she explained why.
Du Jianing's philosophy:
1. Flat filter (Kalita Wave 155):
A flat coffee bed instead of conical. The reason: she wanted even agitation across the entire bed. In a cone, upper parts get more water than the bottom. With flat — everyone is equal.
2. Five (nearly) equal pulses:
50, 50, 50, 50, 27 — each pulse poured over 10 seconds, with 30 seconds between end of one and start of the next. This ensures uniform contact time at each stage — a standard hard to achieve in a regular V60.
3. Very low temperature (86°C):
Most methods recommend 92-95°C. Du Jianing went down to 86°C — and argued it allowed her specific bean (Ethiopian Geisha natural process) to give floral aromas without extracting bitter compounds. This won't work with every coffee, but for those specific beans — a winner.
4. Simple ratio (1:15):
15g, 227g water. Nothing fancy.
The competition presentation:
Du Jianing presented her cup and claimed: "This is a white tea cup — not coffee." The judges agreed. Her score was especially high in extraction and clarity, which delivered the win.
The impact:
After her win, the Origami jumped from hundreds in sales to tens of thousands. Every other specialty roastery bought stock. To this day, Du Jianing's recipe is what's shown first to anyone buying an Origami for the first time.